An organic grower and distributor of heirloom vegetable, herb, and flower seeds has awarded Friends Academy—Dartmouth's pre-k through grade 8 private school—with a grant that will help the school continue funding its gardening program.

This year, the Seeds of Change organization awarded Friends Academy a $20,000 grant, the highest prize a candidate could receive.

Stephen Walach oversees the garden, working with students of all ages throughout the school year to plan, sow, transplant, and eventually harvest well over 5,000 pounds of vegetables every year, donating them to soup kitchens and food pantries from New Bedford to Pawtucket, RI. During the summer he works with alumni of the school “who really do some heavy lifting in the heat for many hours, completing community service hours at area high schools and colleges.

“The process of applying for the grant was a bit serendipitous,” Walach reports. A teacher from the school’s early childhood program first noticed the grant announcement and shared it the day before the application deadline. “I literally had just a few hours to cobble together a description of what we do, the amount we produce, and where it gets distributed,” he said.

Friends Academy then had to qualify by gathering votes registered on the “Seeds of Change” website. Walach enlisted help from the school’s administration, who announced the competition on the school’s website and posted daily voting reminders on social media. “We had less than a month to get as many people as we could to vote on a daily basis for our garden,” he said.

The school has been donating produce to the food pantry at New Bedford’s Grace Episcopal Church since 2007. When the church’s current pastor Reverend Chris got wind of the contest, he shared the information with his parishioners as well.

The rules of the competition mandated that the top fifty gardens, those who gathered the most votes over the twenty-day period, would qualify for one of $20,000 awards or one of $10,000 awards.

On April 20, Walach received news that Friends had made the first round cut. Then a juried panel scrutinized the applications and determined the schools that would be awarded.

Steve Walach’s grant application began with the following: “Our commitment to a strong community starts at the roots—in this case quite literally—our school garden.” Walach went on to explain the nature and scope of the program at Friends Academy and the fact that the school has been donating literally tons of produce to help feed the hungry over the past five years.

Walach said he intends to use the grant to help put the gardening program at the school on fiscally solid ground. Seeds, fertilizers, and seed starting mixes, row covers, plug trays, and replacement tools—all will be covered by the grant and allow Mr. Walach and his students to plan ahead with the confidence that comes with knowing the school’s expenses will be covered for years to come. He also hopes to investigate the cost of digging a well as a water source for the garden as a more sustainable and cost effective approach to irrigation long term.